Harry PotterAdkins: Southern Bred Hospitality
by Trey Miller
Summary: -Up for adoption- Harry was never raised in England. Harry was raised in Alabama, with an older brother and a loving family. Harry don't take no crap from racist bigots. Let's watch Harry take on Britain's wizarding world! -Author Retired-
1. Chapter 1 rev2

I'm bothered by a severe lack of muse-love right now, so I'm stuck doing one of three things: reading fanfics, playing Age of Empires II, and editing/modifying/rewording portions of older chapters.

Now, this isn't all bad, as this has given me the opportunity to go back and correct a few of the more minor mistakes that I have seen in each chapter. For example, in the original, there was this shtick about 'cannon/canon' and I was attempting a joke about a twelve-pounder which fell through. That's been gotten rid of.

Oh, and no, still no beta'r, if you're wondering. Not really looking for one either. They're so...reliable and dutiful and unlazy. Unlike me.

There isn't much if any new material, so you don't have to reread it if you don't wish to.

As for a disclaimer. Yeah... This is fanfic. 'Nuff said.

Now, onward!

**Harry Potter-Adkins, Southern Bred Hospitality  
**by: Trey Miller  
Chapter 1

To have an idea of where our story starts, the best place is always the beginning, even though our story technically begins almost ten years later.

After Albus Percival Wulvric Brian Dumbledore (Head Mugwump, etc, etc) placed the infant Harry James Potter on the front stairs of the Dursley's, he did not look back. Not even to inform Petunia Dursley of her sisters' death at the hands of a homicidal killer. The way things happen in the original world, the Dursley's immediately, and with great hostility, agree to Dumbledore's demands that they take him in, and grow to hate the child for the sins of Dumbledore.

But this is not that world. The morning of November 1st dawned bright, and Petunia Dursley was in quite a good mood for a change. When she discovered the infant Harry and read the letter, rather than acting violent and spiteful, she calmly spoke with her husband, and informed him that, unless Vernon wanted to adopt Harry, she would take him to a local orphanage and allow them to put him up for adoption, as they simply did not have the money to care for another child.

One week later and Vernon would have agreed that his son, Dudley, might want a brother. But this would only be after a good ten percent boost to his salary, and by then, the events of November 1st were already set in stone.

Vernon told Petunia that he would take their nephew to the orphanage, as she still had to take care of Dudley. So as he went to get ready to take young Harry to the orphanage, Petunia took the time to make her peace with her sister and her nephew, whose emerald green eyes reminded her so much of her dead sister. And then he was gone from her life, not forever, but most certainly for now.

At this same time, a young American family was in England due to the husband's job. Andrew 'Andy' Adkins, age 26, was a mechanic in the US Army who had been loaned to the British SAS for a one-year tour. Rather than leave his wife, Jessica, and their four-year-old son Jason, for the year, he brought the whole family over.

For almost two years prior, Andy and Jessica had attempted to have another child, but found that there was a problem with Jessica that would not allow her to ever have children again. It was agreed that they would simply adopt a child. Thus it was the Fate's planning that had Vernon with the year old Harry and the Adkins family run into each other at the same orphanage at the same time. It was evident to Andy and Jessica that Vernon was regretful for having to give up his nephew and they spoke to him about the little green-eyed boy.

Vernon explained as much as he knew, without mentioning magic of course, to the young couple. He spoke about how Lily and James Potter had been a rather decent bunch, a trifle eccentric in his opinion, but good people nonetheless. He explained that they had been killed by a drunkard lunatic with delusions of grandeur who was killed also—which wasn't far from the truth, actually. Vernon told them that he had it under good authority that young Harry was in no further danger, and even if he was, America would be the last place anyone looked for him.

Less than two hours later, Vernon Dursley left with the contact information of the family who adopted his nephew, a smile on his face at having provided the young family such a unique opportunity, and the feeling of triumph over the wizard named Dumbledore. The Adkins family formally adopted Harry, changing his family name from Potter to Adkins.

And as they say, the rest is history... Well, from the Muggles point of view.

From Albus Dumbledore, the story goes just slightly deeper...

He had not checked on the Dursley's since he dropped little Harry off, leaving that job to his squib friend Arabella Figg. This worked out nicely for the six months that the Dursley's stayed at Number 4 Privet, until Vernon's job at Grunnings shipped him off to work at one of their other sites. Rather than attempt placing another watcher on the Dursley's, he had merely watched them leave.

The next time a discussion about Harry Potter came up in great detail was early 1991. It was, after all, the year that Harry Potter re-entered the wizarding world. So when the quill that addressed all yearly student letters wrote Harry's name, it wrote:

To: Harry James Potter-(Unknown)

(Unknown location)

And placed it aside for one of the professors to look at.

This, of course, brought panic to Minerva McGonagall who immediately spoke to Albus. Thankfully, the event was kept under wraps far better than most other secrets around Hogwarts, and so no one was the wiser. After learning of the quills odd behavior, Albus went and spoke to the Dursley's (who were relatively polite about the fact that Harry had been adopted by the Adkins family, from America. His admonishment of their behavior was shot full of holes when it was explained that they had neither the money, nor the experience to have raised a second child at the time; however, while they appreciated that Petunia was chosen, (by him, not Lilly and James' wills) the least he could have done was approach them in person and speak with them.

Albus had left the Dursley's home feeling as if he'd just been told off by a favorite aunt. And so, with the thoughts that he had severely messed up being on the forefront of his mind, he sought out to find the Adkins family and introduce them and Harry to the joys of magic. The Dursley's had given him their address with the explicit order that he not simply appear unannounced in their living room.

Which is why he was standing outside a very nice one story brick house that showed signs of two young boys living there happily (the two brand new bikes, one slightly larger than the other, was proof that there were two boys there). Albus smiled. Perhaps Harry had grown up having a childhood, after all. He knocked on the door.

August 4, 1991- Dothan, Al, USA

Jason Adkins opened the door and stared at the sight before him. There stood an old man whose attire could only be called eclectic. His extremely long white beard and long hair was braided, he wore black rattlesnake boots, a day-glow orange and white suit, and a black tie decorated with yellow dots (which he later noticed were lemons).

He blinked, "If you're looking for the Vanilla Ice concert, you're about a hundred miles off." He went to close the door when the old man held up a hand to stop him.

"Actually, young man, I'm looking for Harry Adkins."

Jason's arm that was holding the inside door knob went toward the gun nearby. "Why are you looking for my brother, Mister-?"

"Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at an elite school for gifted youth in Scotland. I am here as a favor to Harry's biological parents to personally spread an invitation for him to come to the school where they attended."

Jason nodded and opened the door wider, "Well, c'mon in, then. Our parents are on their way home, but you can wait until they get here and discuss everything with them. Though lemme say, I doubt we've got the money to cover the cost of any fancy schooling over there, much less here."

Albus stepped inside and smiled, his eyes twinkling, "My boy," Jason told him his name, "Jason, Harry's birth parents left him a large amount of money that was supposed to be used to support him. Not only that, but his schooling has been paid in full for the entire seven years that he would attend if he and your family agreed."

Jason blinked and shrugged, "Well, whatever. Lemme see if he's around." He turned and walked out, leaving Albus to take a seat.

Albus chuckled in amusement. American Muggles! Simply amazing, really. His thoughts turned from the overall musing to the matter at hand. There were pictures on the walls that showed Harry and Jason growing up, and Harry was always smiling, always having fun. Not one boy was more loved than the other.

His eyes roamed over to the main wall of the living room. On both sides of the television stood two shelves crammed with awards and the likes that belonged to each boy. Where Jason had helped his team win the state championship in American soccer, Harry had blown the competition out of the water during swimming competitions. Both boys were extremely bright, honor roll students (though neither could actually claim to be straight A students). But on the other side of the same coin, both were insanely gifted at getting into trouble. On each of the boys' shelves, there sat an open folder that held reports from principals of the schools the boys attended stating that there were being suspended for fighting- though never for starting the fight.

Albus snorted at one particular note in Harry's file: "While Harry is above his peers when it comes to book knowledge, he seems to lack the basic social skills needed to get around in life. Specifically, how to turn a blind eye to students who are reprimanding other students." There was something stapled to the back of this and Albus flipped to that. He chuckled gaily at the newspaper clipping, "Principal of Local Elementary School Fired."

"Whoa, you weren't joking, Jase. He does look like a Vanilla Ice fan!" Albus turned around to see a boy in black, loose fitting jeans and a polo shirt grinning at him with emerald green eyes behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses and a toothy smile. The black haired youth stepped forward and stuck his hand out, "Hi, I'm Harry. Well, Harry Potter, even though it's Harry Adkins now. What can I do for you, sir?"

"I'm Albus Dumbledore, headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, Mr. Adkins. I have come to offer you a place at my school," he said, while shaking the young mans hand.

Harry arched an eyebrow. "Magic, Mr. Dumbledore? Why would I need training in magic?" He motioned toward the chair behind the headmaster as he and Jason sat down on the sofa nearby.

Dumbledore hummed as he sat. "Ah, you see Harry, you are a wizard, the son of two powerful magic users who attended Hogwarts. They set it up so that you could attend Hogwarts if you so wished." Albus pulled out the letter and handed it to Harry. "This is the normal Hogwarts acceptance letter."

Harry browsed through the letter quickly before handing it to Jason who looked it over and then handed it back. Jason said, "I've already said it, but since Harry wasn't in here when I did before, I'll say it now, we're going to wait for our parents to get home before agreeing to anything."

Harry nodded, "Actually, there is one question I've got, and I know Jase and our parents will be curious too. When you say 'Witchcraft'..."

Albus scowled and sighed, "That is one of the largest reasons why we don't have every invited child attend. There really is no short answer, but the most accurate and abridged version, would be that the wizarding world is separated from the _non-magique_, the non-magical. And sadly, the wizard world is full of bigots and racists in the form of some of the older houses, the purebloods. As for these purebloods, most of them are in political offices. They would rather the magic world die out than for Muggleborns, their term for magic users without a direct four-generational tie to the wizarding world."

Jason snorted and muttered something rude under his breath. "Sounds like the people that Harry and me normally beat the fear of God into."

"Based on the little bit I saw in your respective folders," Albus chuckled, and pointed toward the fireplace, "I would agree with your deduction, Jason.

"But as to your question, Hogwarts is not a place where you can learn how to summon demons or work with demons. It is a place where magic, pure, untainted magic is learned. That is not to say that there are not spells that deal in the darker aspects of the world and the likes, but we attempt to make certain that no students are taught those darker magics while on Hogwarts grounds."

Harry chuckled darkly, "So I could still run into fools who have been taught at home. Gotcha. Anything else I should be aware of before I go over there?" He picked up Jason's surprised look and shrugged, grinning. "Do you blame me? A chance to kick butt, take names, and right wrongs like we always do, what's not to like?" The brothers laughed.

"As a matter of fact, there is much more that I should tell you than I would be able to cover in a single day. But I will touch on those that bear that most import to you in your decision making and planning." Albus gathered himself and absently conjured a bottle of butterbeer for each. "It's a non-alcoholic drink similar to soda called butterbeer. Getting back on topic, the biggest thing you should know is that in the British wizarding community, you are famous."

Jason spat the butterbeer in his mouth all over his parents who had chose that very moment to walk in. Harry burst out laughing and Albus chuckled. Andrew and Jessica Adkins stared at the scene for a moment in confusion before looking at Albus.

"Seeing as you're the only one who isn't about to die of something, would you mind explaining what's going on?" asked Andrew.

Albus stood, "My name is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of an elite school of magic in Scotland called Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He muttered to himself, "Maybe I should call in a few favors this time for that name change."

Andrew and Jessica looked at each other and then at Harry and Jason who had calmed down enough to stand. "Okay, so what does that have to do with anything?" asked Jessica.

For the next hour, Albus explained the history of the wizarding world, where it stood on matters such as religion and Muggleborns and the full and unabridged version of why Harry was famous. This was of course interspersed with Jessica making Harry promise he wouldn't kill any of them (pounding their faces into the ground in defense of others was just shrugged off- he'd do it either way).

Finally, the question came up by Albus, "I've been to many of these introductions and you're the first ones to not even bat an eye at the idea of magic. Why is that?"

Jessica chuckled, "That's because Harry's been doing magic for a long while."

Albus choked, "I'm sorry, what?"

Harry waved his hand and summoned a clay disc that was near the other side of the room. He waved his other hand and it stopped, staying in mid air as he focused on it, closing his eyes tight, he waved both hands and it slowly began to ripple and change. Two minutes later, a small fluffy yellow pillow in the shape of a lemon dropped onto Albus' waiting hand. Harry sagged back in his seat, breathing deep as his father grabbed a chocolate bar for Harry to eat on.

His mother hugged him and looked at Albus, "He normally doesn't go for something quite so extravagant when he's just showing off. And we will be having a discussion about you straining yourself, young man!"

Albus was still staring at the pillow in his hands, turning it over and over as he checked it out. He looked up at the family in front of him and whispered, "This is simply amazing."

"Why do you say that, Mr. Dumbledore?" asked Andrew.

"Let me list the years that students at Hogwarts learn the spells that your son showed just now. The summoning charm is taught in fourth year. The transfiguration that he did is taught in parts during the first two years, but something of this quality is done in third year. Also, he did this without a magical focus, a wand, in the case of wizards in Britain."

Jason whistled appreciatively, "My little bro, the next Merlin."

Andrew looked between Harry and Albus, "Where would we go to get him a magical focus here in America?"

"Hmm, well, there's probably a store in every major town where he could get some supplies, and possibly a foci of sorts. While I do not remember every place around here, he could most assuredly get a focus in Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, and Harry would still need to purchase a British ministry approved wand, but that can be done in London."

"Well, that's an eight hour round trip, to Atlanta, at least," said Jessica.

Albus' eyes twinkled in mirth, "Eight hours by car, about a minute by portkey."

This led to a fifteen minute discussion of British ministry approved transportation forms and the American Bureau's own approved list. Suffice to say, Harry wouldn't have to worry about getting in trouble practicing magic during the summer, so long as it was on his property, or within the American Bureau of Magic's designated areas.

Andrew looked at his watch, "It's right now 4:11. You say we could be there and back before five?"

"That is plenty of time to find a magical focus and get back here." Albus was pulling a sock from his pocket (The ultimate transfiguration substance: it makes clothes, portkeys, and anything and everything else. Plus you never know when you'll need a dry pair!).

"Now, magic is something like ninety percent focus, thirty percent power. So if you focus on your intention, and then mentally shape what it is to be what you want it to be, you can do it. You already know that with your focus-less magic, so I'll show you how it's done with a wand." He tapped his wand to the sock and spoke clearly so that Harry could hear him, "_Engorgo!_" the sock grew to be the length of a scarf, "And now, we're going to the Magus Central in Atlanta. I've been there, so I know where to send us. _Portus!_" The sock-scarf glowed for a second and then Albus held it out to the family.

"Take a hold of this and just relax, while the ride may seem wild, what you are actually going to be feeling is the surrounding magic, not wind. You're perfectly safe so long as you don't tense up, don't panic, and don't let go. Alright?" He received nods from all around.

"Okay, and we're off!" There was a dull flash of light as the magic was triggered, and then the house was empty.

--Minor Editing Done: 27 Dec, 2007--


	2. Chapter 2

What do I say about this... well, for lack of a better way of saying, this is the stereotypical "Harry Gets His Money and Stuff" chapter. But there's information here that will come in handy in later chapters, as well as things that you'll never see used again. As for my opinion on this chapter, it's not the best. I've never liked going about doing shopping scenes, but this had to be done. There were things that I had to place here that will expanded on later.

Oh, and about that blatant 'mistake' in the first chappie about 'cannon/canon.' It's sad, but the joke about how 'canon' got blown away by the proverbial 12-pounder just wouldn't fit where I was hoping.

Now, onward!

**Harry Potter-Adkins, Southern Bred Hospitality  
**by: Trey Miller  
Chapter 2

To anyone sensitive to the sound of magic, they would have heard the whistling buzz as the portkey approached the end of its journey. They would have then heard the deep and thick hum of a very powerful person 'riding' the portkey. And then they would have heard a melodious warble of someone who defied all definition.

Fortunately for young Harry Potter, no mage capable of hearing the sound of magic was around the Mall at Peachtree Center when they appeared there. They stood in a little alcove between the Brooks Brothers apparel store and an art store, and Albus watched amused as the Adkins family looked around in shock.

Finally Jessica found her voice, "We're in the mall."

Albus' eyes twinkled in merriment, "What? You were expecting a little corner store or something of the sort?"

Jason, Harry, and the their father answered together, "Yes!"

Albus laughed, "We're in America. Things are far more advanced here than in England." He looked around and shook his head as a group of teenagers walked by, "Well, maybe advanced is too strong a word."

Harry snorted, "This coming from the dude dressed for a rap video."

Albus merely chuckled and motioned for them to exit. "We're going to need to make our way downstairs to the Bank of America. From there, we can access the funds set aside by the Potter's to cover Harry's schooling and whatnot." He walked out of the alcove and headed for the escalator.

Harry and Jason grinned at each other and then took off for the escalator also, while their parents just groaned and calmly followed.

What occurred then was classic comedy. Two kids running down the up escalator, keeping pace with an old man in a mind-numbingly-colored suit with a grin on his face, followed by two adults who didn't want to claim any knowledge of the three.

Soon enough, Albus and the others made it to the bank. Albus glanced at the others, "Now, follow me, and no matter what you see, just remember, with magic, all things are possible."

Harry grinned, "Been there,-"

Jason followed, "Done that,-"

Their mother came in next, "Got the complementary tee-shirt,-"

"And it's all thanks to our son, Harry," finished their father.

Harry grinned, "Honestly, Mr. Dumbledore, I doubt there's much more you can show us that... will... shock... us." His jaw dropped.

They had entered and stepped toward a lone teller near the water fountain when they felt a ripple (what was later explained to them as the feeling of crossing a ward-line) and then the Bank of America had seemingly expanded.

They now stood in front of a pair of glass doors with gold filigree covering most of the actual door. Albus pushed it open and bowed, acting like a door man as the family entered. He grinned at them as he walked over to one of the tellers who was most assuredly not an Georgia native.

He wasn't even a native to the human race. Then again, the goblin may have been an Georgia native, reasoned the Adkins clan as a whole.

"Welcome to Gringotts, sirs and ma'am. How can I be of service to you today?" asked the goblin. Harry eyed the brass nameplate which told his name as 'Redjaw.'

"Ah, yes, young Harry Potter would like to withdraw funds from his vault."

Harry stepped forward, "Actually, it's Harry Adkins. I know I've got the Potter stuck on the end, but I never use it."

Redjaw nodded, "I see. Very well, Mr. Adkins, we're going to need to see some form of identification from your parents as well as any Gringotts keys you may have."

Albus frowned, "His ancestry vault won't be accessible until he becomes of age. Do you need his key for that?"

"To provide better service for our customers here, we need to document all accounts so that we can send them monthly statements." Redjaw arched an eyebrow, "Besides which point, young Mr. Adkins has parents which can allow him access to his ancestry vault at any time."

Albus shook his head and sighed, "I've been around over one hundred years and yet the things I shouldn't forget are the things that slip my mind most often." He pulled out a small satchel and turned to Harry, "Within this bag, there are your two keys as well as a couple items your parents wished for you to have about now."

Harry eyed the small, wallet-sized bag, but it was Jason who beat him to the punch, "What in the world could be that small?"

Andrew chuckled "It's a magical thing, son."

"Gah, brain overload!"

Harry grinned and pulled out his keys after sticking his arm, up to his elbow into the small satchel. "Here you go, Mr. Redjaw."

"My pleasure, Mr. Adkins."

Needless to say, ten minutes later, the family and their tour guide walked out of the Bank of America with slightly shocked looks on all faces.

Redjaw had definitely enjoyed himself. Well, if the snort, laugh, and then very toothy grin toward the family were anything to go by. He'd said, "You don't mind if I call you Harry, do you? (Harry said he didn't) Good, let me give you the amount listed within your ancestry vault first. Your ancestry vault has a grand total liquid asset worth of 379,021 galleons, 12 sickles, 16 knuts. At the current exchange rate, your liquid assets come out to be three million, eight-hundred-sixteen thousand, seven-hundred-forty-eight dollars, and ninety one cents ($3,816,748.91). Your trust fund currently has within it 10,312 galleons, 5 sickles, 19 knuts. Which comes out to be one hundred three grand and some change."

Suddenly, the middle class family that they were, found themselves to be far richer than then could have expected. His parents weren't exactly certain what was going to happen, but finding out that their son had almost four million dollars to his name was certainly going to change something. Jason was wondering if Harry would let him get a few things that might help his chances with getting a girlfriend.

Harry was just wondering what he was going to do with so much money.

Albus chuckled merrily, "Right then! The reason we are here is to find young Harry a focus. There's a maker right next to the book store, which is convenient, because we can also purchase a few books for you all to read on Harry's gift."

He lead the still stunned group down to a small store called 'the Meditation Station,' where they once again felt the ripple of a ward-line, and into the small store. Behind the desk was a young man hunkered over a sketch book and a little girl, who couldn't be more than eight sitting on the counter.

The little girl looked at them and smiled widely, showing that she'd lost her two front teeth, and waved, "Hi!"

The young man looked up and blinked owlishly, "Oh, sorry! How you weren't waiting long."

"Not long at all, young man," Albus said with a chuckle, "The muses gift us with creativity whenever they please, and it is up to us to react accordingly."

"Yeah! That's about how I feel. Anyway, I'm Scott and this is my niece Tiffany. Is there anything in particular that I can help you find today?"

Albus looked at Harry encouragingly and the young boy stepped forward. "Well, I need a magical focus of some kind."

Scott nodded thoughtfully, "Starting to learn focused magic then, eh? Hmm, shouldn't be too hard to find you a focus that will grow with you." He turned and set Tiffany on the floor before he grinned, "Best not be touching anything right this moment."

Jason and their mom jerked their hands back as Scott clapped a one-two-one-three-two tempo and then stomped his foot once. There was a ripple as the entire store changed. Where there had been obviously fake magical items and wicca supplies were now actual magic items.

"Now, seeing as how this is your first magical focus, we could always start you out with a wand, which is what is normally done. But with that said, this store makes foci- which means we make more than just wands. We've got staffs, staves, batons, knives and swords, rods, whips, even the odd shield, ring, or rubber duckie," said Scott, which earned a round of laughter from everyone.

Harry walked around, browsing through the different foci until he reached an area that piqued his curiosity. There were two sets of shelves that faced each other, and even though he was standing right in front of them, his eyes kept slipping over them, even when he attempted to focus on what was on those shelves. That's when he saw the little plaque that read "Adult foci users only- Age Ward Protected."

He didn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize what that meant, so he walked off, blushing a bright cherry red.

His parents, who were following him saw him stare at one isle for almost a minute before he grew red and walked off, and they stepped over to investigate. They, read the sign and looked down the isle, having the same luck as Harry had, until they stepped through.

Andrew had to drag his wife from the isle before she got any crazy ideas.

Jason and Scott were busy talking together, as Scott was only a year older than the elder Adkins boy. "Yeah, I'm actually a freshman at the Westlake High School under the Magic Program there."

Jason frowned, "Okay, I'm not the magic guy in the family, but even I've figured out that you can't go around showing that stuff off. How do y'all hide it?"

"Oh, that was the easy part." Scott laughed, "Do you remember a test back in second grade that they did for 'class placement?'" Scott mimed the quotations and Jason nodded after a moment of thought. "Well, that test was to see if you had any magical abilities. From there, we were placed in a class with other magic users and classified as gifted students. Then in sixth grade, we began taking a magical elective course, and our Gifted Studies program became an AMP class."

"Amp class?"

Scott shook his head, "No, A.M.P. class, Advanced Magical Placement. Since the schools can't get away with having magic students being the only students in AP, we had to have our own separate AP classes. That those classes are magical courses that are used to teach us all of the important things and nothing that isn't important is what makes them special."

Jason nodded in understanding, "So that's why Harry was placed in the gifted program back home."

"More than likely, yeah."

Harry had made his way over to the sword display and was looking at one such weapon that had drawn his attention, and tugged at his magic some. It was... odd.

Scott walked over, Jason with him joking about younger siblings. "Ah, I see what you like. That is what my grandpa called a shotgun-sword. It's been inscribed with an arithmatic formula, not to mention a boat-load of runes to do everything from give it nearly infinite ammo to making it unbreakable, and everything else. It makes a good focus, but it's got this bad habit of shooting buckshot instead of spells."

"And I'm not about to let you have that thing for quite a while if ever, young man!" Harry turned around sheepishly as his mother approached. "Find something else."

Harry grinned and hastened off toward the other place his magic was reacting around, which left the others standing there watching him. Scott chuckled, "I had a Japanese man come in here about a week ago and look at it. He said it inspired him." The other looked at his strangely and he shrugged, "Don't ask. Those guys over there are crazier than we are some times."

Harry looked down at the open case before him. Rings. Everything from plain bands to stuff that looked like the rock on the band weighed more than a pickup, and was probably worth more, too. But which one was calling to him?

He closed his eyes and let his focus drift to the box. There, before his minds eye, was a mass of glowing spots, some bigger than others. He raised his hand over the box and snapped his fingers, letting out a small pulse of magic.

Albus whirled around, about to shout a warning. Scott jerked in front of the others, slapping both hands on the floor, and with a flash of light, the white gold wall of magic that was commonly called "Heavens Gates" sprung into place between Harry and everyone else.

From within the collection of rings two flashes of light jerked out, throwing other rings all over the place as they slapped into Harry's palm. As soon as his hand closed around them, the magic washed out from him, vibrating everything and startling everyone.

And then it was over.

Albus peered over his half-moon glasses at the young man looking at the two rings in his hand. Letting his senses go, he felt the magic around him and nodded, all that had occurred was Harry finding not one, but a pair of foci that were almost perfect for him. "Well, Harry, you certainly seem to know how to liven up the party."

"It's a talent that Jase and I have."

Scott stood, panting lightly from exerting himself with a higher class shield. "Incredible..." He walked over to Harry and looked at the two rings. "Simply astonishing, rather."

His mother finally found her voice, "What- what was that?"

Albus turned to her and smiled, "That, Mrs. Adkins, was your son finding not one, but two, foci which fit him almost perfectly."

"This isn't going to happen when he gets that British wand, is it?" asked his father.

"If it does, Britain is finally getting it's head out from where it's been since way back when," said Scott, still looking at the rings. "Well, this is rather interesting. These rings are made of solid gold covered by black silicon of a higher quality than that which is found in computer chips. They each carry a single phoenix tear and a single drop of asp venom."

Jason frowned, "So what's the interesting part?"

Scott looked at him and grinned, "These aren't supposed to be out on the floor. Dad never has used this idea before, so he considered them experimental. I think that was more because he couldn't actually use them, truth be told."

Harry looked down at the dull black rings, "So what fingers do I put them on?"

"I would advise either the index or middle on each hand," said Albus. Scott nodded in agreement. With that said, Harry slipped them on, one on each middle finger.

Almost fifteen minutes later, Harry walked out of the store, $150 cheaper, but with two ring foci, a bottomless satchel, a pair of long distance communication screens, a pair of linked two-way boxes, and Scott's phone number in case they needed any more help.

Albus proceeded to portkey everyone back to the Adkins' home in Dothan where plans were made for the next day. After receiving assurances by Albus that he would return in the morning and take Harry, Jason, and their mother to gather the remainder of Harry's purchases before Harry left for England, Albus apparated away, leaving the Adkins family to relax for the evening.


	3. Chapter 3

First off, I know, I'm slightly "late" when it comes to this chapter. I could bore you with the details, but let's just say I'm on a new OS, and I've got the files backed up and saved every five minutes they're opened.

That being said, I'll say this, too. I'm not really happy with this chapter. But who can blame me? This is version 3 or 4- and the only version that actually has a digital existence. Anyway, if the ending and parts of it seem rushed or...disjointed, it's not your imagination. As for an eta for chapter 4, hmm, I'll say that it'll be up before December. ...I hope.

Anyway, let's get this party started!

**Harry Potter-Adkins, Southern Bred Hospitality  
**by: Trey Miller  
Chapter 3

"So were you being serious yesterday when you said you needed a White Knight, sir?" asked Harry.

Harry, his brother Jason, their mother, and Albus Dumbledore sat in the food court at the mall eating a late lunch. Albus had toned down his attire (much to the relief of Harry's mother), now simply wearing a gray suit that had tiny white stars dotting it. His beard and long hair were still braided; however, with the more 'normal' suit, it actually looked good.

Said elder wizard nodded, "I am not proud, in any far stretch of the imagination, of the degrading social structure at Hogwarts. You see, there has been so much bigotry in the past seventy years that the incredibly high level of education that Hogwarts once had has been severely hampered. Mainly due to the conflict between the self-proclaimed blood purists, the muggleborns and so-called blood-traitors. It doesn't help that the vast majority of the blood purists are in Slytherin house."

"Slytherin? What's that?" asked Jason.

"Ah, right, I'd almost forgotten to explain how Hogwarts is set up." Albus sat back and sipped his drink. "To do that, I must explain the current situation we find ourselves in. To explain the current situation, I must explain the past in some detail. A bit more than a thousand years ago, Europe was in the process of building empires and unifying people, the Catholic Church ruled Europe, and magic was considered by most to be little more than demonic summoning or paganistic arts. Wizards had been around for eons before, but schooling practices had not developed in any actual form in England. But I digress.

"From three older countries came three mages, powerful magicians who brought their unique talents and skills. From the north, we believe Russia, came a cunning and strong man. From Egypt came a strong priestess who carried much knowledge of ancient magic and history. From India came another powerful woman. She brought knowledge of plants and animals, not to mention a strong sense of loyalty to family. These three met their fourth ally, one who had studied the magics that the Celtic, the Spanish, and the other west European nations used. To hide their true identity, they took on names that resembled their individual familiars. The Russian, Salazar Slytherin, took his name from his familiar, the snake. The Indian, Helga Hufflepuff, took hers from the badger (even though it may not appear so). The Egyptian, Rowena Ravenclaw, took hers from the Raven. And lastly, the Celt, Godric Gryffindor, took his from the Gryphon."

"Now, here's where the story returns to the near present," said Albus. "When the great fortress-school Hogwarts was founded, Slytherin wanted to prevent muggleborns from entering the school without a large amount of protection. Gryffindor, on the other hand, was a fighter, and said 'bring the muggleborns, and bring the magic-hating armies!' He would personally go out and fight those who threatened the students and their parents. Here is where what really occurred and what people want to believe occur split. History was written that Godric and Salazar had a great fight and Salazar left. What really occurred was that Salazar and Godric found a point to agree on: everyone should learn magic that wanted to. From there, they fought tooth and nail to make it possible.

"They succeeded, and Salazar would have stayed, had it not been for an unfortunate timed letter that his daughter was injured. He left for his homeland and saved his daughter, sending her back to Hogwarts to be tutored and raised by the other founders. Unfortunately, he was killed by the people who had injured his daughter. In this day and age, the blood purists forget that Salazar's fault with how things were done is the only reason the British wizarding community still stands."

The three Adkins sat for a moment in silence, each thinking on what had been said. Jason finally spoke up. "So, Cliff Notes version is this: Powerful dudes in the past notice a problem and fix it. Idiot bigots nowadays ignore the solution and the logic and focus only on some aspect of the problem. Right so far?" Albus nodded. "So what you want to do is have my little brother, Harry, go to Hogwarts, face these bigots without me being around, and, how can I say this, enlighten them on how things are done over here?"

Albus nodded again.

Jason looked over at Harry and scowled, "Man, you're so freakin' lucky! Mom, why does Harry get to have all the fun?"

Jessica patted his hand in mock sympathy, "Because you're too old, dear."

"Kids nowadays don't know how lucky they are."

"Tell me about it," she deadpanned.

Harry sat there quietly, contemplating what he was being told. Truth be told, he was of half a mind to call Scott up in Atlanta and get him to quietly ship him that shotgun-sword foci. So how was he going to handle these bigots?

Wait a cotton-pickin' minute...

The bigots noticed power, be it magical power, social power, or wealth. That's how it was in the schools he and Jason attended, that's how it would be over there. Since he wasn't quite sure where he stood in any of those classes, there were two immediate things to do.

Number one: Ask Mr.- err, Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Excuse me, sir." started Harry, his face already morphing into the 'I've got a big scheme, and someone ain't gonna like the results' look, "Out of curiosity, if I wanted to rate myself in wealth, social status, and magical power, about where would I place myself on the list of this years students?"

Albus hummed for a moment, his eyes twinkling mad as he contemplated the question, "Well, without looking at the actual numbers, I would say that you are among the most socially famous, due to surviving the killing curse. Not only that, but the Potter name is one of the more recognized names in the British Wizarding World. Wealth, I would say that you are in the top five- higher than the Malfoy name, lower than the Black or Flamel names. As for magical power, you've been doing intermediate to advanced wandless and wordless magic for several years. To put it in reference, I'm considered the most powerful British wizard, and the first time I did more than accidental wandless magic was when I was thirteen. Do I need to say more?"

Harry grinned, "Well then, if I were to want to appear to have came from a well-to-do American family, I must appear to have much more refined taste in clothing. Not the absolute best, but high quality, name-famous clothes. You know, Nike, Reebok, Calvin Klein, things like that. It's got to be all really cool and in American clothes."

"So what image are you going for?" asked Jason.

Harry's eyes glittered with joy behind his wire-rimmed glasses. "That should be obvious, bro. I'm going for the classic 'Good boy who is too good for the social stigmas.'"

"So 'Rebel pride' all the way?" asked his mother.

"'Bad boy dressing like a good boy,' I'd say." said Jason.

He nodded, rubbing his hands together in expectation. Albus' smile grew wider and his twinkling eyes were almost doubling as strobe lights. This was going to work out even better than he had planned. Granted, the plan was to see if he would come to Hogwarts, and make it up after that. But hey, it worked.

Three hours later, Harry had all the mundane and wizarding clothes he would need for his year at Hogwarts. Nothing, and it was stressed, nothing was below name-famous. After a quick spin through Books'a'Million (they actually did sell the books he would need for school, not to mention Hogwarts a History and the likes), where the cost of all his books was over twice that which he spent on clothing, the quartet made their way back to the Adkins' domicile. With prodding from Jessica, Albus promised to return later for supper with them.

Harry and Jason spent what was left of the afternoon packing the "very radical" (Jason's words) trunk with all of Harry's clothes and miscellaneous items, before the brothers collapsed around his room, listening to one of the local country music radio stations, as they browsed through Harry's school books.

"Hey, Harry, they've actually got a wand spell that unlocks locks," said Jason. "It's Alohomora."

Harry looked up from his copy of Hogwarts a History, "Jase, I've been unlocking and locking things without any problem for a while. Watch." Harry stuck his hand out pointing at his closed door and rubbed his fingers together, almost snapping them, but not quite. The door clicked shut, locked, and seemed to partially meld with the door frame.

Jason glanced at the door over the book and then at Harry. "Methinks them rings give it a bit more power."

"Obviously," Harry did the hand maneuver again, this time with the other hand and the door unlocked and unsealed. He looked down at the matte black rings on his hand and whistled softly, "Color me impressed."

"Color me, not so impressed," said Jason with a chuckle. At Harry's annoyed look, Jason elaborated, "You're an Adkins, bro. We do things outside of the ordinary. Look at dad; he's a mechanic with a degree in horticulture. Mom deals in real estate and moonlights as a self defense teacher. I've got more reprimands from school about my fights on record than anyone else, and yet I could coast through college on that college fund people like adding to."

Harry nodded and waved his hands to placate his brother, "Okay, okay. Point taken. It's still kinda impressive."

Jason nodded. "Yeah. Now let me see if there are any spells you can do on your glasses to make them a bit better." He paused for a moment and continued, "And this time, I'm talking about actual spells."

The brothers spent the rest of the afternoon going through the books, studying and occasionally laughing at one of Harry's spells.

August 15 rolled around and Harry, along with his father walked through Gatwick Airport, his satchel slung across his back. In it was everything from America he would need, as well as his fathers belongings while his father was in England until the beginning of September. Both Andy and Harry were extremely happy about not having to tote around large suitcases.

As soon as they were able to vacate Gatwick, they hopped on a bus bound for central London, and following the directions given by Albus (who received them from a muggleborn in London), they made their way to the street on which the Leaky Cauldron's location was reputed to be.

Andrew looked at the directions and then at the portion of the city block where it should be. He frowned down at his son in confusion and said, "Unless I'm reading this thing wrong, it should be right around-"

"-There," said Harry, pointing at a place between a record store and the brick corner building that opened up onto the intersecting street.

Andrew focused his eyes where Harry was pointing to and sighed as the pub came into focus. He sighed. "Another thing about magic that I'm amazed by."

"I know the feeling."

Andrew nodded absently, muttering as he walked beside his son, "I said amazed, not amused." Harry laughed.

Having been forewarned by Albus of his apparent fame and told that the wizarding community were looking for Harry Potter, a boy with a British accent (and scar), Harry merely tugged the LA Lakers ball cap down a little over his forehead and tagged along behind his father as they entered. He was ready for his first performance as the Fonz of the British wizarding world.

Andrew walked up to the bar and waved the bartender over. A portly man in a tunic with a towel over one shoulder walked over and smiled. "Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, I'm Tom, the owner. What can I get for you?"

"We need a room with two beds for my son and I until September first."

Tom nodded, "First year at Hogwarts?"

Andrew nodded with a smile. "Yeah, he got his letter and everything. First wizard in the family for a few generations."

"I see. And from your accents I take it you're from the states?"

Harry shifted his bag and nudged his father not-so-subtly. "You sure we can't stay at one of our regulars? I mean, this place is homey and nice, I'll give you that."

Andrew didn't bat an eye at the change in his sons personality. "You're going to have to get used to living a little bit more rustic than you're used to, son."

Harry and his father stared at each other for a moment quietly before Harry shrugged. "Eh, so long as the food is good and I can go wander around soon, it'll work for me."

Tom had been watching the fifteen second verbal sparring match, wondering how to interject. This gave him the necessary place to. "Ah, no worries, lad. It may not seem like much, but this here is one of the best places to stay around here. My brother, the cook, can fix almost anything you want, though he doesn't get to stretch his talent around here."

"What about Diagon Alley?"

Tom nodded, "Access is granted to those who aren't in the know, which is practically only first time visitors, and from then on, you can come and go as you please. Though the doors to the alley are closed at eleven o'clock."

Harry shook his head. "Curfew. I love this place already," he said. The sarcasm was evident to all.

"For all we know, there might be some reason for it, son."

Harry shrugged, "Eh, whatever. I don't plan on being out that late anyway." He walked off, letting his father finish up business.

"For once, I'm glad he didn't pick up his brothers quirks," muttered Andy, eliciting a chuckle from Tom.

"Aye, kids today have a rather interesting outlook on rules."

Andy nodded, mentally making a note to never show Harry or Jason reruns of Happy Days.

While Tom and his father were ironing out the details, Harry meandered over to one of the patrons who had an open copy of the Daily Prophet laying out. He glanced at the front page and chuckled.

The patron, a youngish man who looked like he'd been through hell itself, looked up and blinked at the emerald eyes that flickered his direction. His eyes then went to the Lakers hat above the eyes, and then at the attire the boy was wearing. He blinked. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Harry's eyes went from the newspaper back to the mans face and he smiled. "Nope, I'm from the good ole U.S. of God blessed A." (He pronounced it "Gahd-bles'sd") He pointed to the paper. "So what's with this Harry Potter dude that they're hyping?"

"Oh, Harry? Well, long story short, people say he survived the killing curse as a baby, which is supposed to be impossible at any age, mind. And in doing so, he some how managed to vanquish the dark wizard people call He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of fear," said the patron.

Harry stared at him with a 'you must be kidding' look on his face. He opened his mouth and closed it and then sighed, "Well, he couldn't be all that tough. There hasn't been any dark wizards in the news in almost fifty years now, give or take."

By now, the room was almost dead quiet, everyone listening to the conversation. The man shrugged, "What might be easy on one level may be tougher than granite on another. There was no wizard or witch who was strong enough to fight that monster on their own."

"Yet not a one of them actually thought about mobbing him? Sure there would have been a few who died, but I'm pretty sure he would have gone down under the sheer magical onslaught of a hundred or so," said Harry.

"Nope, it was tried with a group of thirty and he knocked them all flying."

"How about a few people armed with 50 caliber sniper rifles?"

The man paused in thought and frowned, "Actually, no. No one thought of using any weapon of that sort against him."

Harry had, by now, taken a seat across from the man. He laughed, "Oh, right, so everyone things this kid somehow miraculously survives something you say is unsurvivable, manages to off this guy, and save the day. All in his diaper?!" He snorted. "At least tell me the guy was called the Dark Sorcerer E. Vile, or something of that sort."

"He called himself Lord Voldemort." Gasps and screams of terror filled the room, and Harry looked around in disdain.

"Fools." Harry froze for a second as an idea came to mind and he smiled slowly and mischievously. The man across from him groaned softly and muttered something like "Not the Potter Mischief Grin"

Harry looked around and took a deep breath before screaming out, "Voldemort!" People jerked and screamed again. "Voldemort! VOLDEMORT!"

The room was dead quiet and the only ones who he was still able to see was his father, and the man across from him. Harry shrugged, "Guess it only works with Beetlejuice."

Everyone began to slowly rise back to where they had been seated when the fireplace to their left roared to life with green flames.

On that day, ten people managed to burst through the anti-apparation ward around the Leaky Cauldron. Ten people reported to St. Mungo's with splinching injuries.

From the flames stepped a tall man who looked around, shrugged, and walked toward the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Harry chuckled at the now empty room. "Fools, all of them." He glanced at the other man and slapped the side of his head, "Oh, sorry about that, I never got around to introducing myself."

The man waved it away, "No worries, I'm Remus Lupin. I knew your birth parents, James and Lilly well, Harry."


	4. Chapter 4

I could give you a variety of reasons why this chapter wasn't done within the 'standard' (if you can call three in a row a standard) 30 days. But I'm not. I'm a little bit under the weather and I've got a bit of time to write, ergo, here's chapter 4. Truth be told, I'm still not sure how this chapter came to be.

I'll forewarn you, there are a few places that may seem disjointed at their best. Tell me where they are and I'll see about adding that to my revision to-do list. Not that I plan on revising this any time soon, lol. Also, for those looking forward to the next chapters of my other three stories, err, they're postponed until I can actually look them over and see if I still want to do them. My reason is simple, I'm not really sure I like how they are, though FOUO is by far my other favorite- the muse just isn't visiting it.

Anyway, I'm slightly surprised at the number of people who enjoy this. I'll try not to disappoint.

Onward!

**Harry Potter-Adkins, Southern Bred Hospitality  
**by: Trey Miller  
Chapter 4

August 28, 1991

"Gah-CHOO!"

Remus looked over the newspaper at the boy sitting nearby. His eyes wandered over to Andy who grinned and turned back to the show. Remus' eyes drifted back to the object of the loud sneeze.

Harry Potter-Adkins, or as he preferred, Harry Adkins, sat wrapped in several blankets, jackets, and the like. He was turning a rather interesting shade of blue, and the flaming mucus he was sneezing made things quite…lively.

But it wasn't even this scene that had his attention.

It was the portion of the scene that made his cub's predicament all that more humorous.

To Harry's right (but out of the range of fire) sat the muggleborn witch Hermione Granger, and the pureblood wizard Neville Longbottom. To Harry's left (also out of the blast range) sat an amused pair of the rather aloof Blaise Zabini and Susan Bones.

The four children were watching their friend of two weeks as he suffered the consequences of adding mercury to a potion that was supposed to cure boils.

Hermione sighed and handed an open book to Neville who held it so that Harry could look. "Now, one last time, before you succeed in bringing around the next ice age single handedly. The book states quite clearly that 'Mercury, while being a metal, is of the element of water and thusly should not be added to magnesium which is of the element of fire.'"

Blaise smirked, "I doubt our American friend is going to do something quite so foolish next time, Hermione."

Harry nodded and said though clattering teeth, "That's right. Next time I'll just make thermite and toast marshmallows."

Neville's head thudded against the table before them. Susan sighed and planted her face in her hand. Blaise snorted and shook his head. Hermione's eye twitched.

She looked straight at Harry and said, "You don't know how to make thermite."

"Of course I do. My dad taught Jase and Jase taught me."

Hermione's eye twitched again, and this time Neville started easing his chair back, out of the firing range. Suddenly, Hermione slammed a notebook and pen down in front of Harry and bowed her head, "Please teach me!"

Neville's chair tipped over backwards and he crashed. Andy spat his butterbeer all over the table and Remus' newspaper, Dan Granger pounded Andy on the back, while Blaise's look said quite plainly, 'Why me?' Susan just sighed again.

Remus shook his head and stood, heading downstairs to get a refill of hot chocolate for Harry. It had been two weeks since Harry had met and roped the other four into the insanity he called life.

Roped was an apt word for their meetings.

First it had been Susan in Gringotts. Harry had walked up to her, tapped her on the shoulder, and asked her if she could help him with everything, what with him being an American who had never met a goblin of Gringotts before. He had coincidentally forgotten to mention that he had never met a British goblin.

This had led to the two children, along with Amelia Bones, and Andy to go on a rollercoaster ride through the caverns. From there, the group had headed to Madam Malkin's where Harry had invited Susan to join him the next day at the Leaky Cauldron to do some studying before they reached Hogwarts. Susan and her 'Auntie Amelia' had agreed to the meeting

Harry had then stepped out and ran into the blonde haired spoilt-brat, Draco Malfoy, as he harassed two girls and a guy just for the color of their skin. Harry would later--that is, after 'tripping and smashing his flailing fist into the small of Draco's back, thereby forcing the young Malfoy to leave and change clothes--meet Padma and Parvati Patil, twin Indian girls who were first generation Brits, and the Italian-descended Blaise Zabini.

Blaise agreed to meet the next day for a round of 'Clue the ignorant American newly-discovered wizard." Unfortunately, the Patil twins had to decline due to family commitments.

With Neville Longbottom, it had been a matter of Harry walking up and catching a cauldron as it was falling in the Apothecary for the two to hit it off good. From there, Harry had met the acting matriarch Augusta Longbottom, and had apparently made a good enough impression during the trip to get Harry a British Ministry approved wand, for Neville to get his own wand, too.

Honestly, all it took him was to ask why he had to go get a brand new wand when his parents wands were sitting in his vault (they weren't, but a little fib couldn't hurt things). Neville and his grandmother had agreed to meet the group Harry was putting together, also.

As for the last member of the group, Hermione, Harry had run into her in the book store. Honestly, a girl who isn't even five foot tall should not be carrying around a stack of books her own height.

Much less adding to it!

An hour spent helping Hermione pick out books, and purchase them without her even realizing that Harry had paid, and Harry had another person for the next day.

Remus thanked Tom for the refill and headed back upstairs, his thoughts returning to the first meeting of 'the Group' as Harry called it.

Other than everyone other than Harry being shy, the only interesting thing about the Group's introduction was Hermione walking up to Harry, poking him in the chest and demanding to know just why he had purchased those books for her.

Harry had shrugged and stated that the Group should have an official librarian, and he'd let her see his own collection he had brought from America for her to organize and make a list of for them to use. One enormous hug later Hermione was happily sitting with everyone as Harry talked about why he had arranged the group as it was.

Well, that is to say, he pulled out a stack of index cards and began to read notes off of them to the group. "Each of you I spoke with yesterday and invited to join me and help learn from each other because I saw things in each of you that I know we're all going to need in our life." Harry had said, looking between them all, "I'm being completely serious here. I'm in a strange land, surrounded by perfect strangers. I'm not about to bash them over the heads with blunt sticks and ask them to join me for dinner. What I mean is…"

Harry sighed, "It's like this, I'm from America. From what I've been told, the British community does things far differently than America. I don't want to break any laws, perhaps bend but not break, so I realized I needed to meet some people who could clue me in on the happenings."

He had then gone on to explain to each of them (using said note cards to get his facts 'straight') why he had picked them over someone 'better'. Hermione for the fact that she knew the muggle world. Susan because she had mentioned her aunt's position in law enforcement. With Blaise, it was because he figured if anyone knew a language other than English it would be them. Neville because he seemed to understand how the magical world actually worked.

After seeing their confused faces, Harry had turned to Remus threw the cards at him and said, "Well, I tried it your way, now lemme try it mine." He stuck out his tongue childishly and then turned back to the others.

He grinned, "Hi, I'm Harry Adkins. I'm new around here. Y'all wouldn't happen to mind all that much if we studied together and kept me from breaking any laws I don't know about, would'ja?"

And thus, the Group was born.

Remus walked back in, and handed Harry the fresh hot chocolate and sat back down with Dan and Andy. After the first day of meet'n'greet, everyone's parents had agreed to let their children come up on their own during the rest of their get-togethers.

Dan Granger watched his daughter and her new friends interacting at the table before them as he and Andy traded war stories. Irony of ironies, he remembered working with Andy back in the motor pool, and the two had hit it off. This had, of course, helped alleviate his wife's hesitancy at letting her daughter spend days on end with the other children.

It had not alleviated her fear enough to allow Hermione to take the bus into London to visit. But Dan was more than willing to go along with Hermione as she met Harry and the others and did everything from reading and researching to visiting some of the local sights. The fact that Remus was a fully trained wizard who lived in the muggle world (he would never get used to having a title placed on his world) made getting the other parents to agree to the outings just a matter of telling when and where and how long.

"Okay, I think we've studied for enough today," said Harry. The effects of the botched potion had worn off mostly and he was down to just wearing the long sleeved clothes. The others began putting their books up and standing to stretch.

Neville looked around and grinned, "Hey, we've only got three more days and then we're heading to Hogwarts! You know what that means?"

The five looked around and grinned before saying in unison, "Party!"

Susan asked the most appropriate question, "So when and where?"

"Howsabout at Hermione's house?" suggested Harry after a moment of thinking.

Hermione nodded, "That would work. None of you have been to my neighborhood." She glanced over at her father and asked, "Is that alright?"

Dan shrugged, "Sure. We could have it in the back yard."

Harry nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Okay, now the question is, when?"

"Well, unless the muggle way is different than the wizard's way, parties are best at night," said Blaise.

Neville nodded, "And since we leave on Sunday, how does Saturday sound?"

So the first annual 'the Group' cookout was set up, and the fun didn't end until almost midnight that night.

September 1, 1991

The patrons of the Leaky Cauldron were roused at 6 o'clock local time by the blood curdling scream of "I'm late!" followed by an extremely heavy thud which shook dust from the magically cleaned ceiling jousts.

The common patrons who had resided there during the stay of one Harry Adkins merely groaned and went back to what they were doing. Those who had not met the chaotic force that was the younger Adkins wondered what kind of fearsome beast could cause that kind of noise.

Twenty minutes later, three doors slammed, one after another, followed by a "Gangway!" followed by 'Bam! BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM-THUD!' This of course, was due to the eleven year old Harry Adkins riding his trunk down the stairs like a surf board. Behind him, his father, Andy and Remus walked downstairs at a much more sedate pace, yawning and glaring at the boy at the bottom of the stairs.

Remus pulled out his wand and sent a spray of water down on Harry, leaving him soaked. Harry stood there, dripping wet as Remus and his dad walked by, his mouth hanging open. He shook himself and sighed, "Okay, maybe I deserved that."

Harry looked at his sopping wet clothes and sighed, "Well, guess I've gotta go change. Back in a moment."

"Hold it, bub, you're not going anywhere," said Andy with a smirk on his face.

Harry's head slumped onto his chest in defeat, "I know I deserved that." He walked, well, sloshed, his way over to the table and sat down.

Remus and Andy laughed at him, as they ate breakfast. Harry was still pouting once they left. Fortunately, Andy had never said anything about Harry using his rings to dry himself, so by the time they exited the tavern, he was mostly dry.

They loaded up in a taxi and with Remus giving telling the driver "Kings Cross Station, thanks," they were off.

Once there, Harry looked at the ticket and bit back the urge to groan. He glared at the two men, "You know, if one of y'all had've just told me I didn't have to be here until 11 o'clock, I wouldn't have rushed us."

Andy looked at Harry and laughed. Remus chuckled. "I have a feeling that you would have made your grand entrance a bit more extravagant, had you had the time to plan."

Harry nodded, "Perhaps, but I would have spared myself the second bath." He shrugged and looked at the ticket. "So, Platform 9 and three-quarters, eh? Guess I'll find Platform 9 and wing it."

Andy and Remus watched as Harry loaded his trunk onto a dolly and rolled it through the no-so-busy 7 o'clock traffic. They watched as Harry came up to one of the pillars and maneuvered his cart next to it before sitting down on the other end and rolling it back and forth a bit.

Then suddenly, Harry pushed back and he and the cart disappeared through the portal.

Remus looked at Andy in amazement who laughed. "God blessed me with two extremely smart boys. Though neither one will admit it."

They walked through the portal, too, and Remus stopped and looked back at the wall and then at Andy. Andy looked at him curiously, "What's wrong, Remus?"

Remus shook his head in confusion, "Muggles aren't supposed to be able to walk through there. I had completely forgotten about that."

Andy shrugged, "Around my sons, I've learned to throw all perceptions of what can and can't happen out the window. They'll break the laws of physics one of these days just out of sheer tenacity."

Remus nodded. Here was proof that Andy's youngest son, while adopted, was already breaking the laws of situated magic--or at least the people around him were. He filed it away for later contemplation.

Preferably after he had downed several shots of fire whiskey.

After an hour talking with Harry and making sure he hadn't forgotten anything, Remus and Andy left him on the train after getting a hug and a handshake each.

Harry sighed and pulled his notebook and began writing.

'Hey bro,

Dude, you'll never believe what Britain's like…'

The train had been moving for a few minutes when Harry looked up from his writing as someone knocked on the compartment door. He looked up and grinned as the rest of the Group entered. After helping everyone get their trunks filed away properly, Harry went back to writing as the others settled down for the journey to their home for the next eight months.

"Ah, Harry? How long have you been here?" asked Neville curiously.

"Hmm? I think I got on here about two hours ago," said Harry distractedly. Jason was going to get the proverbial ear-full when he read the letter.

Hermione and Susan traded exasperated looks at the behavior their friend was showing.

Blaise simply snorted. "When did you wake up?"

"Oh, six this morning."

Neville sighed, "I'm going to regret this, but, how much a scene did you make?"

Oh, this was the good part. Harry put down the pen, straightened up the pages of the letter and tucked them away, while keeping everyone in suspense. After almost a minute, Hermione finally said, "Well?"

Harry smiled and put his hands behind his head as he looked around. "I just trunk surfed down the stairs."

Dead silence.

Blaise's lip twitched as he tried to hold in his laughter. Neville didn't even try, he just burst out laughing. Susan giggled and Hermione just smiled and shook her head

After everyone quieted down, Susan asked the next question, "So what did you dad and Mr. Remus do?"

Harry's smile faded and his face turned red with embarrassment and he muttered something.

Susan smiled, "Sorry, what was that?"

Harry groaned, "I said, Remus soaked me to the bone, and dad wouldn't let me go change clothes." He pulled off a sneaker and turned it upside down, and water splashed on the ground.

After another round of laughter, things quieted down as the others pulled out books to read while Harry cast a drying spell on his shoes that Susan was kind enough to teach him.

Outside of a visit by a scruffy red-head looking for a place to sit, and the young Draco Malfoy who merely glared at the American through the locked door, the ride was quiet. When they got closer to Hogwarts, Hermione announced she was going to change into her uniform and she and Susan left and let the boys change.

Other than a few comments about wanting to get some American tailored uniforms during the next year, nothing was said about Harry's designer clothing.

As the train pulled up to the station, Harry stopped everyone. He looked at them one by one before smiling. "Listen guys, we all know about the ideas of the different houses and everything. Heck we all know which ones most fit our personalities. But before we go, I wanna say this." He paused and placed his hand out, palm down in the middle of the group.

"No matter what house we're in. No matter what anyone tells us. We're friends, and we're gonna stay friends until we're all older than Merlin himself!"

Hermione smiled, "As the Three Musketeers say, 'All for one, and one for all!'" She placed her hand on top of Harry's.

Neville looked at them and nodded, "You all have helped me a lot since we met. I'm with you no matter what." He placed his on top of Hermione's.

Susan nodded, "You guys are my best friends and I'm not going to lose you to something as silly as the houses." She too placed her hand in.

Everyone looked at Blaise who shrugged and smiled wryly at Harry. "Someone's got to keep you from teaching Hermione every trick you know, you bloody redneck." He put his hand on top, even as Hermione stuck her tongue out at Blaise.

Harry nodded, "As they say back where I come from, 'Let's get this here party started, y'all!"

The Group laughed as they filed off the train. No matter what happened, they wouldn't let it change their friendship.


	5. I am retired

I have retired. Please see my profile for more information.

~Trey


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